To the Unexpected visitor

Several months ago, God changed things up in my life and blew in a time I never wanted but desperately needed. My plans fell apart and yet, I received the greatest gift of time, space, rest, and a safe place to grow. This is a poem of gratitude both to that time and to the God who orchestrated it.

To the Unexpected Visitor:

You blew into my life like the windstorm we had last night.

You blew in and you blew down all my carefully constructed plans.

You, this time I never wanted—You came in abruptly, uninvited and changed my life for the better.

Thank you.

Thank you for being precisely what I needed.

Thank you for challenging me to reevaluate:

How I spend my time.

How I see myself.

How I view my worth.

How I build my life.

You taught me I matter—regardless of what I produce.

You taught me what I actually need and how to separate what I think I need from what God knows I need.

You introduced me to who I am and who I can be:

Whole.

Well.

Rested.

Full.

Peaceful.

Loving.

You gave me back my life—after I tried so hard to shove it all away.

You were a privilege to live into and learn from.

You, this time I never wanted but so desperately needed, taught me that there is another way.

A way of wholeness.

A way of fullness of life.

A way of wellbeing.

A way of abundance.

A way of enoughness.

A way of peace.

A way of Divine Shalom.

Thank you.

Thank you for pushing yourself on me, for blowing in and knocking down everything I thought I wanted and needed.

Thank you for wrapping yourself around me.

Thank you for teaching me how to hope.

Thank you for teaching me how to grieve.

Thank you for giving me rest.

Thank you for instilling peace.

And now, as you come close to whisper you goodbye—I ask you to please go, blow into someone else’s life and teach them as you have taught me. Grant them this gift I cannot ever repay you for. Wrap them in your sturdy arms and teach them how to rest, how to let go, and how to grow.

Please come back around, should I ever need the lesson again.

But for now, I say thank you and promise to try my best to keep peace as my core, strong and steady at my core, and to invite and teach others of these lessons I have learned.

Amen.